Grandpa Smith (1916-2009)

Wieb Smith (my mom's dad) passed away on Friday. Grandpa, you were so loved, and you will be missed.

Week in Review

Here's our week:
One week down, two to go before I am on Winter Break! My classes went well this week and the kids were pretty great. However, I can see them starting to also get antsy for Winter Break. We're almost there, guys! The Henry Eagles started their basketball season this week. For all of the home games, I run the scoreboard. Even though it means staying until 6:00pm, I really enjoy watching the kids play. Our boys team is pretty good! On Friday after school I went to see "Paranormal Activity" with a friend from work. Even though it was my second time seeing it, we had a lot of fun. I love scary movies, but Michael isn't really a fan. It's nice to have found some fellow scary movie buddies!

M was hard at work this week. He is back on overtime, as a project needs to get finished by the end of the year. He is working hard at school, as well. He is currently taking an economics class. The Prius is still one of the loves of his life, and he has done a lot of research on electric vehicles. I am sure it's only a matter of time before one is being built in our garage.

The cats are doing very well. They definitely missed us while we were visiting California. Lucy's mouth has healed up really nicely, and she is eating more than ever.


I would like to take a minute to send good vibes to a colleague of mine. This past week she lost her sister to cancer. This comes 1 year and 1 day after they lost their mother to cancer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their family in this very difficult time.

Thanksgiving: By the Photos

Turkey, Sand, and a Birthday, Oh My!!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable and yummy holiday. Our holiday was absolutely fantastic. We traveled to Ventura, California to have Thanksgiving with Michael's mom's family - Linny's sister's family, The O'Hollaren's (Sissy, Bob, Shaun, and Ian) and Moyie (Michael grandmother).

California was beautiful. We had an amazing view of the beach, the O'Hollaren's have a great house, and the weather was awesome (85 degrees Thanksgiving day!). M and I took a trip with the dogs down to the beach. We all ended up wet and sandy, but had a fun time.

I was able to get in some fun shopping trips with the girls. Who knew they made a dress you can tie about 10 different ways to create different styles? The dress looks super-cute with my beloved leggings. I also enjoyed our trip up to Ojai where we went to some funky little boutiques...right up my alley!

Our Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely delicious. Moyie made her famous stuffing that no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without. Linny taught me how to make some pretty yummy mushroom gravy, and we had some of the best pumpkin pie!

We also celebrated Linny's birthday with presents and a trip to see "The Blind Side." The movie is a tear-jerker that I highly recommend seeing. Love Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw in it! And Happy Birthday Linny! We wish you many wonderful birthdays!

I, being pretty scatter-brained the morning we left, forgot my camera. Luckily Zach had his and took some great shots. Now I just need to keep the pressure on to upload those pics and email them to me. I will post some just as soon as I get them (Zach, are you reading this??!!??)

Fun Photo for Not So Fun Week

Here's me attempting to maintain the notoriously tough to maintain red hair. I have recently started going to a wonderful stylist who understands my vision of red. Part of doing that, though means mantaining in between going to the salon. I have a glaze on that easily stains everything, and I have no shower cap. So I improvised with a plastic grocery bag and a clip. Fun times!!

A light-hearted, silly picture was just what we needed to help get us through this tough week. First, I got sick over the last weekend. Not throwing up or anything, just a yucky cold/sinus infection. That morphed into a cough which mixed with my asthma resulted in my inability to breathe. The doc put me on prednisone and a special inhaler. I am starting to feel better and am hoping to be fully recovered for our trip to Cali next week. M has also caught the cold bug, so we've been spending our nights with lots of blankets, cold medicine, and an early bedtime. Here's to hoping for good health soon!!

The Boris & Natasha of Colorado

Tonight we stopped at Target before heading to a movie, and I found this awesome fur hat - just like the ones you see on those living and traveling in Russia. I thought M and I both looked pretty stylin' in the hat, although the hat was a bit small for his huge head. I'm regretting my decision not to purchase the hat, as the snow has picked up tonight and we are expecting up tp 12 inches by tomorrow afternoon!!

Tale of a Toothless Tortie

Lucy Update: Early this morning I brought Lucy to the All Cat Clinic to get a second opinion on her tooth situation. The wonderful vet there indeed decided that she has stomatitis (an auto-immune disease where her gums recognize her teeth as foreign objects and begin to reject them. This creates infections and a lot of pain in her gums and throat and can result in death if not treated). So I left Lucy to undergo dental surgery in which all of her teeth, with the exception of her canines would be removed. The vet estimated that this would be around 14 teeth!!
Mid-morning I received a call saying that Lucy had come through her surgery like a champ and was already chowing down on the soft food they offered her. She ended up having 7 tooth extractions, as all of her other teeth had already fallen out or not grown in in the first place. Lucy is now home with us and will soon be recovered! Check out her pain meds, antibiotics, and teeth (yes, they gave me her teeth)!





Big brother Linus protects Lucy while she is taking a nap and recovering.